


Gotham Seamstress

by MonkeeBratz



Series: Monkee's Maribat AUs [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: (as in originally posted on tumblr and NOW on ao3 until further notice), Alternate Universe, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Everyone loves Marinette, Gen, Mari is trying her BEST, MariBat, Marinette in Gotham, the kwami love marinette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:02:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 11,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24399202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonkeeBratz/pseuds/MonkeeBratz
Summary: After the Clusterfuck that is finding out Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste, healing Emelie Agreste, and Adrian going from oblivious sunshine to Nice Guy on Steroids, Marinette Dupain-Cheng (now Marianne Fu) has fled to Gotham. Without proper paperwork and unable to find legitimate work, she goes to Aurthur Berstein, Gotham City Rogues' Official Tailor, desperate for work.Yeah. It goes just about as well as you thought it would.(A series of drabbles from my tumblr!)
Relationships: Batfamily Members & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Aurthur Berstein, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Rogues Gallery (Batman)
Series: Monkee's Maribat AUs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1762030
Comments: 11
Kudos: 426





	1. So It Begins

**Author's Note:**

> I have finally gotten the motivation to move all my tumblr works to ao3!! I won't be posting there anymore, so any updates will be here in the future, but for now, have at this!!

Any of you remember [this comic](https://www.deviantart.com/terminaitor/art/Batman-The-Tailor-133622928)? Arthur Berstein, tailor to the Infamous Gotham Rogues? Yes? Well in this AU, dear ol’ Arty doesn’t get saved by Batman. He just continues his work. After dear ol’ Philip Mason gets, well… yknow. By the Joker. Arthur puts up a post about a new assistant. But word’s already gotten around about what happened and tailors and seamstresses all over the city have put two and two together and he doesn’t get a single application.

Not until he gets this little French girl as his door in the wee hours of morning, begging for the position. She can’t be more than 15, and that’s being generous. She’s tiny. Got bruises and scrapes and has obviously been living on the streets. Arthur doesn’t know what to make of her. Tells her that this is no job for a little girl. And she just. Breaks down into tears. Because she needs this job. Nobody will hire a teenager with no papers or identification and she needs something. Anything. And she’s good at sewing! Made all the clothes she’s wearing, her purse, her backpack. All of it. And it IS good.

Arthur Berstein doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. Takes her inside and brings her upstairs and tells her flat out that she’d be doing work for villains. She’d be constantly in danger and he couldn’t do a thing to save her.

All she asks is if that means she has the job. And Arthur just kinda bundles her up and tells her very quietly that yes. She does. Gets some old clothes that may fit her, gets some food in her belly and a shower and changed and puts her in his spare room and thinks oh God what am I doing?

But Marinette Dupain-Cheng, now Marianne Wang (the closest tribute she’ll ever be able to give to her old master and the love of his life now that they’re gone) works for Arthur Berstein, making clothes for the Gotham Rogues, hiding the Miraculous Box in her backpack and trying not to cry.


	2. Uncle Ozzy

One of Arthur’s most frequent customers is, of course, Oswald Cobblepot, The Penguin. The man wears almost exclusively suits. C’mon now. (Also the Penguin I’m most familiar with is the one from The Batman animated series so forgive me if this seems. Odd? OOC? Idk I’m just here to have fun.)

And Ol’ Ozzy doesn’t think much of the little girl that’s started helping Mr. Berstein out around the shop. She works fast, doesn’t say much. Pretty little thing. (Not that Ozzy is looking at a child like that, get your mind out of the gutter. There’s a reason his Kabuki girls shadow him everywhere, and the Lounge has mostly waitresses running about. The lot of them are young, but nobody ever said Oswald Cobblepot wasn’t a gentleman, and no gentleman would ever put his hand to a woman. ~~Catwoman doesn’t COUNT damn it~~.) 

Of course, he doesn’t think much of her until she’s stuttering over her words after he asks what she’s looking at so sharply. Something about the cut of the suit. Its difficult to pick through the nonsense to get to the meat of the matter but something about a single breast suit with some kind of pattern. When he demands she show him what she means, she pulls out a slip of paper, quickly scribbling out her design. And Ozzy won’t lie, its… flattering. More so than the damn American style suits that are still all the rage in Gotham right now. And the girl, Mari, is waving her hands and fluttering about to pick out a handful of fabrics, layering them against each other and explaining how they work together and he won’t lie… he likes it. Tells her as much and the girl grins ear to ear and makes little notes on the page, setting aside the paper and nodding along. 

Neither of them notice Mr. Berstein in the background, white knuckle gripping his tape, watching the scene play out in front of him. His Girls notice, of course, and tell him later in their harsh, whispered tones. Bah. Like he’d hurt a little girl for doing her job…. He may have to have a word with ol’ Jay about that. He liked this girl, and if she could make this old bird look good, well. He didn’t care to be replacing a seamstress who could do her job and do it well. No reason to have his old friend torment the girl into making mistakes. 

Mari starts making most of Oswald’s suits herself, adding in fun little details. And, now, most petty thugs know better than to mess with Arthur or Mari and get on the bad side of the Rogue Gallery. But not everybody. 

The Penguin shows up to find Mr. Bernstein doing some adjustments to his latest commission and he’s all sorts of cagey about where Mari is. Now, Cobblepot and the Kabuki Girls don’t take too kindly to him acting like that and there may be some threatening and, well. Arthur quietly explained that Mari got mugged coming home last night. She said the other guy looked worse, but she got hit pretty hard and she wasn’t going to be up for finishing anything anytime soon. 

So Oswald and the Girls push past Arthur to go upstairs (he and Mari live above the tailor shop) and go to see her, Arthur sweating buckets the whole time. And Mari’s just kinda laying on the couch, beat to all hell and she squeaks like a little mouse, quickly ducking into her little blanket burrito when she sees them. (She’s hiding the kwami that were comforting her. But they don’t need to know that.) 

Oswald goes all Papa Bear and demands a description of the men/man who did this and Mari gives it to him only if he promises not to kill them or anything drastic. And he DOES make that promise. The Girls, however, don’t. Nobody touches their sweet little Hime. (She hadn’t flinched back when they’d taken off their masks in front of her for a new set of unitard’s and kimono’s, carefully fitted and adjusted to not get in the way of their work. Had smiled and said how pretty their eyes were, how lovely their hair. Nobody touched their sweet girl, and nobody touches Mr. Cobblepot, and got away with it. Not now. Not ever.) 

Once Mari is all healed up, he insists that he call him Uncle Ozzy, and the Girls insist they call them Peri and Gale. They can’t manage more than a harsh whisper, and refuse to give any other names, but Mari never gives her full name either, so. That’s fine. 

Now, Ozzy and the Girls continue wearing Mari’s designs. And, now, Marinette hears of the upcoming Wayne gala, and in a fit of inspiration, draws up matching outfits for the three of them. And maybe one for herself. And Ozzy pays her for all four outfits, and tells her he’ll bring her as his plus one to this gala. As long as it all gets done before hand. She, of course, tackle hugs him and squeals with happiness bc you’d better believe Mari is going to get this done asap!

(And holy descriptions Batman, here’s the ideas for their outfits that I may try to draw one day. Maybe.

Oswald Cobblepot - British Style Single Breasted Suit. Off silver/cream color with metallic snowflake detailing. Very subtle. Very light almost pastel orange-yellow waistcoat. A more saturated red-orange tie and matching handkerchief in his jacket breast pocket. Typical matching top hat and shoes in a slightly darker gray to match the suit. 

Peri and Gale - Masks with high flush looking blush and very pale blue lips. Decorative hair combs and flowers in silver and pale, ice blue. Their unitards are a similar simple, pale blue. Kimono has inner most layers of deep blue, getting paler and paler until you have the silver blue outside layer. Same metallic snowflake pattern as Ozzy’s suit. The bottom of the kimono and its sleeves have added details of penguins in the same orange-yellow and yellow-red as Ozzy as well. Obi is the same blue as the middle layer of the Kimono, a mid tone blue, with bronze details of peregrine falcons and nightingales, respectively. Orange-yellow obi belt and red-orange obiage. 

Marinette - High neck, backless, mermaid style skirt, dress. Fade from black at her neck to the same off silver everybody else has. Metallic snowflakes on the silver area of the skirt that fade out with the black. Very top of the dress is a yellow ribbon that ties in a bow at the back of her neck and hangs down to just below her knees.)

Ozzy intrudes Mari to the Wayne’s and its. Something. 


	3. Gotham City Sirens

You all know this had to happen sometime, right? 

Now, there was a version of this that was all the girls showing up in costume, in the dead of night, right after someone else just finished a fitting, and scaring the crap out of Arthur and Marinette (who beats the SHIT out of Cat Woman, shouting in French (that nONE of them speak) and having a panic attack) BUT I WANT NOTHING BUT WHOLESOME CONTENT SO. 

_NEW PLAN_

Selina Kyle always drops by Arthur Berstein’s Tailoring Shop (… I’ll come up with a catchy name later in life, maybe) for whatever fancy dress she needs, though he doesn’t always quite have the finesse for upscale/high fashion catoure so her dresses have been rather… simple. She’s not horribly impressed but its hard to find good help willing to cater to villains. So, deciding she and the girls should match for their latest heist, she takes them to dear ol’ Berstein’s. 

They may have also heard about his sweet little seamstress from a couple of the goons running around the city, and, well. The Gotham City Sirens don’t stand for the abuse of any young women, not in THEIR city. And if dear Arty thinks he can get away with it, well. The Rogue Gallery will just have to find a new tailor. 

Selina, Pam, and Harley all walk in and Arthur starts sweating but nods along, sketches up some ideas. He already has Selina’s measurements, but he needs Pam’s and Harley’s. Starts those, and Selina smirks and asks “Well why doesn’t your new assistant help us girls out? We’d be happy to meet her~” And Arthur tries to say that she just went to bed, growing girls need her strength and all, and Harley makes. That face. And he just sorta nods and goes upstairs to get her. 

Mari comes down in her pjs, with a sketchbook, and sorta nods along sleepily to what the City Sirens are saying. She vaguely thinks they resemble their super villain counterparts but she’s put that out of her mind a long time ago. Very quickly takes down their measurements, jotting them down, and then, of course, asks what they were looking for in a set of three matching outfits? 

(Now, to be fair to Arthur, he’s a tailor. He’s not a fashion designer. He can do the basics, sew all sorts of clothes, but he ever trained or had much interest in making wild and out there clothes. He’s incredibly impressed by Mari’s designs and often makes the basic pieces while Mari does the detailing, or any tricky bits she wanted added. He’s very happy he found her, both bc she’s so good for business and she’s just… she’s such a bright girl with so much talent and while this is dangerous as hell. All publicity is good publicity, right? Maybe she could make a name for herself one day, when this is all over. If this is all over.) 

But the girls all sort of eye each other and it BEGINS. Really, what they end up with is matching pantsuits, similar silhouettes and fabrics, but completely different details and accessories. The girls are INCREDIBLY impressed. Selina asks if she’d be willing to design something for a gala she has in a couple months, she’s sure Mari could make her something show stopping! Mari is, of course, wide awake now, and very excited! Starts on that design too and then Pam and Harley want matching dresses for date night. Much more casual, but she could manage something like that, right? 

Arthur is just sitting there screaming internally. He’s so glad that this tiny slip of a girl can charm all these villains, though. Much safer for the girl, even if he’s about three seconds away from a heart attack at this rate. 

And then, of course, Mari gets invited to girls night! And Mari is apprehensive. She really can’t afford to get in trouble, everything considered (no papers, no documentation, she technically doesn’t have anything proving she exists AT ALL, who knows what GPD would do to her). However, the Sirens reassure her it would be good old fashioned girl time! Shopping trip, mani-pedi’s, doing each other’s makeup. Fun stuff. Mari is still a little hesitant but agrees. Arthur isn’t super happy this kid is hanging out with grown ass women but she should have some friends… and as far as villains go, Mari could do worse than the Siren’s. 

(Obligatory outfit designs bc you guys seem to like that? And I enjoy it. One day I’ll find/get a new tablet and draw these myself but not today. 

Matching Heist Outfit Selina: Black pantsuit with low cut top, shows off her collarbones and shoulders. Tight sleeves that end in a point at her wrists. Extends into pants with a slight flair. Add some chunky boots and gloves (complete with enhanced ‘nails’ to claw through things), as well as a gold colored whip that doubles as a belt. Think Adam West Batman’s Cat Woman. 

Matching Heist Outfit Harley: Takes the typical red/black split color scheme, looks pretty similar to her OG outfit from the animated batman cartoon. However, she’s got more of a v-neck collar, dips down almost TOO far but still classy and functional. No nip slips in this house. The outfit is looser than Selina’s overall, with strategic pins and tapes in place to hold the folds without actually being loose enough to be useless for a heist. Has a subtle card print pattern all over the fabrics, using a matte finish. Looks like two separate pieces, as there’s a belt at her waist, cinching everything in, and tight but stretchy cuffs at both the wrist and ankles. Add some loose ankles boots and matching gloves and you’ve got the outfit. 

Matching Heist Outfit Pam: Her’s is basically a unitard with extensive embroidery. Off the shoulder sleeves that are connected to a bodice with a sweetheart neckline and tight legs, only a little bit of flair at the ankle. There’s a fade from darker green at her wrists/ankles to a lighter one for the rest of the outfit. Living greenery for a belt with an asymmetrical line to it. The side that dips lower on her hips has some flowers. Maybe roses or peonies? Something red, to tie into her hair color. There’s matching, raised, embroidery on her neckline that dips down the very front of the little ‘v’ of the sweetheart and trails almost to her stomach, lots of raised details of whatever flower (honestly I think I’ll go for roses? They were always a Classic for Poison Ivy) that you can honest to god feel the petals on, with little studded thorns. This detailing is also repeated on the sleeves and pant bottoms, with almost vine like extensions going up to upper arms and mid thighs. Include a choker with a living rose on it and strappy red heels and the outfit is complete. 

Date Night Harley: There’s more obvious retro-elements to both of the girls outfits, but Harley’s is certainly more obvious. You have a hot pants (high waited shorts) with large folded up cuffs, with details of roses and hyena’s on them. A sort of. Cropped collared shirt? Ties just above the shorts, with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, plain white. Then a patterned shirt underneath in black and red. Brown choker collar with a rose charm on it. Wears thigh highs with roller shoes, her hair done up in low ponytails and big, chunky, sunglasses. 

Date Night Pam: We’re taking the raised embroidery details and rolling with it. Except this time her dress is a two parter. You have the very loose, almost silk dressing gown sort of look, in a see-through green fabric. Pam send Mari some pics, so they mirror her and Harley’s home garden. The dress underneath is plain, but can be a simple stand alone. A silvery-green with wide shoulders and a deep v-cut, pretty structured? Goes into a looser skirt that hits the knees. You have a faint ivy pattern in a darker silver green all over the dress. 

Girls Night Mari: Now, Mari doesn’t want to step on anybody’s toes by wearing too much red, but she does choose a deeper pink than normal. (This [rosewood ](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fcolorsfromthepast.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F05%2Frosewood.jpg&t=Y2YwZDU4MTczOWI1NjQwZmI1NWU5YTc2NzRiNDkzZjM3YzJjZGM0NSxQcHo3ZE9mMQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AUv3Z1NaQMeUmdR5kJGraLQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fmonkeebratz.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F188593024732%2Fgotham-seamstress-marinette-gotham-city-sirens&m=0)color.) Has a shorter skort (skirt over shorts. None of this skirt in front short in back nonsense i’ve been seeing) with ladybugs embroidered on the hem. White tanktop. A cropped jacket with very strait cut lines, stiff collar. Almost a biker jacket in a lighter shade of that rosewood. Has gray leggings and a slightly darker grey boots with a thick heel. Her purse is the same tone of pink, so she can keep Tikki in there.)

Now, Mari actually has a pretty fun time with the Sirens! She’s really been missing girl time and having a feminine influence in her life. Its nice to just… not have to worry a bit. She’ll always worry, especially knowing that Selina is Cat Woman and part of her will always be worried she’s somehow gotten the ring. And who knows what would happen if the girls got ahold of any of the Miraculous, or the Kwami’s. But its nice to see the fashion district and get ice cream and whatever kind of foods she can think of. Its nice to see Pam’s city gardens and see how they bloom (and if Pam sees several flower grow brighter after Mari’s attention, well. She knows how to keep a secret.) Its nice to watch movies and shove popcorn in her face and wear face masks and what have you. 

The only thing that ruins it is the nightmares. Because Mari spends the night, of course. They’re not making a little girl walk through Gotham by herself. But even after such a fun day, she’s in the most dangerous city ever, with super villains, and a cat theme’d hero. 

She wakes up screaming and crying about one ‘Chat Noir’ and gets hug piled by Pam and Harley while Selina rips up pillows and swears if she ever gets her hands on that tomcat she’ll skin him. Hurting a girl like that. Some hero he is! She outta sick the Bats on him! And hooo boy, Pam and Harley agree. Mari assures them that its unlikely she’ll ever see him again but appreciates the thought…

(Tikki is, of course, pretty happy with these ladies. villains or not, they’re taking care of her chosen.) 

((Also this, obviously, happens before the Wayne Gala. Muahahaha))


	4. Wayne Gala

So we have the whole Cobblepot Crew at the Wayne Gala. Mari is off wondering, scribbling away in a palm sized sketchbook all the ideas this beautiful place is giving her! (She smuggled it, along with Tikki and Sass, in her purse. Its a little crowded but they can snuggle.) Peri is following behind her quietly, smiling to herself. Not that anybody can see. 

Meanwhile Gale and Ozzy have started talking to dear ol’ Brucie boy. At this point, its been a couple years since Ozzy has declared his vendetta and has calmed the fuck down. It also helps that Bruce is not suck a dick about things and Ozzy can relax the stuffy old Gothamite Socialite act around him. They get to talking and Bruce kinda chuckles about how he heard Oswald brought a plus one? Who’s the lucky lady? And he points out Mari, who’s slowly making their way back to the Cobblepot Crew with Peri gently steering her in that direction. And Bruce, dad of all dads, immediately sorta puffs up. “Oswald.” 

“Eh? What, Brucie boy?” 

“That’s your plus one? She can’t be any older than my youngest-” 

“Oh, get your bird-brain out of the gutter! Just doing this as a little favor to the girl, she’s my favorite seamstress, y’know. Made me and the Girls outfits for this little soiree, her own dress too. Figured I’d get her some more… legitimate business, you see. Sweet songbird’s had a rough go, recently.” 

And Bruce is even MORE side eye-ing bc wtf does all THAT mean, Cobblepot? Wtf? Should he be Batman concerned or Bruce Wayne concerned? There’ll be a full blown investigation in the Bat Cave when he gets home from this but for now he puts on a smile as Oswald introduces them. Mari is, of course, completely flustered. What an honor to meet Mr. Wayne himself! The Gala is so pretty, and she’s heard all about his charitable work, she’s such a fan! 

Bruce is kinda blown away by this little French Sunshine Child and gives her the Father Smile, letting her ramble. Ozzy is preening bc hell yes, his Songbird has Bruce Wayne’s approval. Bruce asks about her designs for the Cobblepot Crew and commends her skills. Gets Mari out for a dance and then she’s dancing with everybody! Bruce, Ozzy, the Girls, even some strangers. Its a great time! 

Bruce introduces Mari to Damien, who is unimpressed and bored out of his mind. He can appreciate the aesthetics of Mari’s designs but holds to the idea that she shouldn’t be so willing to design for criminals like The Penguin. Not that he says any of this out loud, of course. Offers to take Mari out for a dance and there’s a lot of Mari apologizing for being such a horrible dancer. (It was one thing with the Cobblepot Crew, who she knew didn’t mind, or Bruce, who seemed so nice. But Damien is sorta angry looking and she’s nervous as hell.) Damien tells her its no problem and manages to lead her around with minimal toe tromping. 

BUUUUUT of course this couldn’t last, right? A certain blonde model boy notices Mari and breaks up their dance. In the middle of the dance floor. Like the oblivious boy he is.

And you have panicked French as Adrian grabs Mari’s arm and keeps going on about how glad he is to see her! Where has she been, doesn’t she know how worried everybody has been? Mari, how could she leave him like that? Really, he knew she was upset about the little mishap with their identities and his Father, but did she have to throw such a tantrum about it? 

Marinette, meanwhile, is digging her nails into his wrist and trying to get him off of her, practically tripping on her dress in her haste to get away. Adrian still has a firm grip on her arm, though, and she falls back into Damien who, in perfect French, is asking what the hell does he think he’s doing Agreste? And Adrian puffs up and tells him that he doesn’t need to worry about it, its none of his business-! 

(Mari stops panicking long enough to catch Ozzy’s eye and the Girls make their way over with extreme prejudiced. None of them notice Marinette grabbing something from Adrian’s finger and slipping it into her purse. Nobody but Damien.) 

The Girls pull Adrian away from Mari and Damien and there have their claw hands out, making those upset bird coos. Adrian is kicking about and Bruce is getting an explanation from his son, while Ozzy is trying to comfort Marinette. Its a disaster. 

And then. It gets worse. Because Gabriel fucking Agreste notices the commotion and his sons name attached to it and goes over to figure out what the hell is going on. 

He grips the back of Adrian’s neck and shakes him a bit because he recognizes Mari and, of course, apologizes profusely for his behavior Miss Marin-

“Mari. Its… Its just Mari, now.” 

And Gabriel just nods and apologizes again. “Miss Mari, then. I’m sure this incident will not affect our… agreement?” And Marinette shakes her head and Gabriel nods again and drags Adrian off to leave because not only is this embarrassing, this could jeopardize everything! You stupid, stupid boy!

Mari’s scrubbing tears away from her face and Bruce is apologizing profusely, he had no idea she knew the Agreste’s, or he’d have ensured they didn’t have to interact, and Mari tells him its fine, he couldn’t have known. 

Ozzy bundles her up and takes her back to Arthur’s and seethes. The Agreste’s might be having a little accident soon. He drops her off and Mari shuts herself up in her room and slips on the ring and Plagg fizzes into existence and Tikki tackles him and its an emotional night for everybody. 

Because you see, when Marinette has found out Gabriel and Adrian’s identities as Hawkmoth and Chat Noir, she’d panicked, and when she’d confronted Gabriel and learned why he was doing what he did… She helped him. Used her Guardian training, and Tikki, to fix the Peacock Miraculous, and heal Mrs. Agreste. In return, Gabriel gave her both the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculi back, saying good riddance as long as he had his wife back. Marinette agreed to keep this between them, as long as he worked to fixing the damage he’d caused, with the city, its people, and his family. And Gabriel has sworn to, less she go back on her own promise to ensure Mrs. Agreste’s health. 

Adrian had, of course, figured out Marinette’s identity as Ladybug, and what she had done for his family, and gotten… worse. Not horrible, really, but gradually going from not taking her denial of his advances but becoming more and more pushy about it. Because of course they were meant to be together! And idk if any of you have ever dealt with men like this but its awful. Because Adrian doesn’t understand that what he’s doing is only scaring Mari, and the worse he gets, the more scared she gets. The more desperate to get away. And one day, when Fu names her the official Guardian, she does. She flees to Gotham and never looks back, because Fu remembers so little now, and her family had ignored how her love for Adrian had turned into fear. Everybody had. 

So she left. And here she was. 

(As far as the Fu thing goes, ~~I haven’t watched season 3′s finale(s) so please don’t spoil them.~~ (I HAVE NOW WATCHED EVERYTHING) The idea of Fu losing his memories has more to do with the fact that he’s almost 200 years old and the human body just isn’t made to last that long, magic or no magic. So he starts losing his memory and doesn’t always recognize Marinette so in a moment of clarity he passes the torch, unfinished training or not. Marianne comes to live with Fu and take care of him, remind him of things. They didn’t have their time in their prime, but they’ll take it now.) 


	5. Misc Asks!

[Image Description: Tumblr Ask From liamnl. "So your Gotha Seamstress thing, how about Batman tracking the shop and noticing all the villains going in and out, keeping an eye out for Marinette among other things. Maybe sometime later some other hero he is with mentions strong magic in the vicinity of the shop or something but not anything concrete.]

I haven’t actually gotten around to writing the chapter due to work and what must be some sickness bc i feel like garbage BUT! I can outline what’s going on with the super’s for you bc the Wayne Gala is sort of. The catalyst? Of everything that ends up going down, up to, and including the Batfam investigating wtf is going on with this girl and watching the Tailor shop. 

After the Gala, the Wayne’s do some heavy duty investigating and realize that this girl in tangled up with most if not all the Rogue Gallery if not all the city’s villains in general. Stays with Arthur Berstein who is in the same situation. Arthur, however, is a native Gothamite, while Mari just… doesn’t exist. Bc she DOESN’T. Marianne Wang doesn’t exist in any files they could find, and isn’t in the city. What they do find out, tho, is that she 100% matches pictures of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who went missing after Emile Agreste was ‘found’ and joined her family again, and the ‘attacks’ on Paris stopped. Which they now investigate seriously. 

This is brought up to the League, who, lets say, in this universe, did not get informed, as Marinette is still in her teens at this rate and Hawkmoth/Gabriel was ‘defeated’ within a couple of years. Diana, of course, notices something strange and asks for them to focus in on Marinette’s earrings and Adrien’s ring. And she recognizes them as the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous.

And Robin (Damian), recognizes it as the ring that Marinette stole from Adrian at the gala. And Diana panics bc if she has both rings she could make a ‘wish’ that could destroy the world. And with Marinette’s (seemingly) willing involvement with villains, the Justice League suits up with the intent of tracking her down and separating the Miraculous. Granted they don’t all go to the city at once but they ARE all keeping a very keen eye on her. Nothing has happened YET after all…

Now, Diana, of course, being a product of the Ladybug Miraculous (via her birth from clay or.. however she was actually made we just don’t know) has an ability to sense magic and just knows there’s more than just the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous at the Berstein Tailor shop. Which is even more cause for concern, bc the only person who should have more than one Miraculous on hand is the Guardian, and Marinette is simply far too young. 

… Basically the whole JL is making some big assumptions that are putting Marinette in a bad spot bc now she IS considered a villain, and by a big collective of supers. If/when they interview Adrien about the ring, it’ll just make it worse. He’d already be furious that Mari has all the Miraculous, including his own, which is bullshit! According to him, at least. And Adrien knew jack diddly squat about the Miraculous or the Guardian for MOST of the seasons so lets be real. He’s misinformed. 

Now, if they interview Gabriel, they’ll get the real story behind it. But they won’t bc they think he doesn’t know anything. Such a shame. 

_...this didn't actually answer your prompt or anything but here? you go? _

_ _

[Image Description: Tumblr Ask From liamnl. "I get that you want to include Diana for the seamstress and other maribat AU's due to tikki helping and all. But imho Doctor Fate is better suited for magical knowledge and sensing of magical artifacts. Speaking of Seamstress, Adrien would most likely tell his friends and Mari's parents that she is in Gotham, how would they respond (assuming post Lila's lies) knowing they drove her to run away. Also Tom showing up on the doorstep of the tailor shop if you wouldn't mind."]

(I wrote most of this up at work on tumblr mobile and it didn’t save ANY of it, so apologies if this is disjointed af as I tried to remember what all I wrote)

I won’t lie, I mostly just keep picking Diana bc she’s one of the only Justice League characters I’m familiar with beyond the absolute basics and I feel comfortable adding her. Like. I had to google who Doctor Fate is. 

(Not that he doesn’t seem like a good fit tbh, tho idk which version specifically you mean? Since ig there’s several?? I think if I knew more about his character and background, I’d explore him in the universe and how he interacts with Mari and the Miraculous. If you have any specific ideas, I would love to hear about them tho!)

And hoooo HOOO. Adrien calling the class/the Dupain-Cheng’s about Mari being in Gotham, on the arm of one of the Rogue Gallery, as well as Damian Wayne. There are many, many unkind comments from the class. More of Lila’s lies as well, hope she KNEW Marinette was working with Hawkmoth! No doubt she took his place and ran away to Gotham to play in the big league! How could she! (Honestly in this story, the class never learned she was lying so this bullshittery is still going strong.) 

Adrian just… doesn’t add to that, he knows his Lady would NEVER, and his father handed over his miraculous willingly, but Mari would kill him if he blew all of their secret identities. Even if he IS rather angry and upset she took his ring. He knows shes mad at him but that’s no reason to throw such a tantrum about it and steal his stuff! 

And as for Tom and Sabine, well. They have many mixed feelings about hearing where Mari is. Bc on the one hand, they didn’t know why Marinette ran away, and its such a relief to hear that she’s alive and where she is! But on the other, they still don’t UNDERSTAND. They don’t know that their constant encouragement to get with Adrian, letting him in the house, knowing that SOMETHING was bugging her at school but not knowing how to help and just. Letting her deal with it. All of that contributed to Marinette just running away after she gained her Guardianship. None of them really know why she left, they just ASSUME what they can, from what they know and understand. 

(And listen this is a whole nother rant about the fact that, in the show, Mari is legit stalking Adrian. Her friend. And crush. Like. That’s absolutely what’s going on and from what i’ve seen (aka not much plz no spoilers) from the finale, she may be finally be letting go of this. And Tom and Sabine seem pretty aware of what she’s doing so no doubt they don’t think much of Adrian’s behavior but damn. DAMN. I DON’T CARE FOR THIS SHIT. anyway back to our regularly scheduled program-) 

And honestly, both of them would probably go to Gotham as soon as they can, but it takes time, and they run a popular bakery. By themselves. So its going to take a couple days at least. And by that time, really, most everything will be in motion and Tom and/or Sabine would be getting in Marinette’s way with the Justice League or the Rogue Gallery. 

But lets say Tom DID immediately go to Gotham. Track down Marinette. Shows up to Arthur’s with broken English and Rapid French and Arthur has no idea what’s going on. Really, just assumes he’s heard about Mari from one of the Rogue’s and starts measuring him for a suit. Mari, of course, hears the commotion, and just about brains herself trying to run down the stairs to throw herself at Tom. Because that’s still her dad. She still loves him. And she missed her parents something fierce, even if they hadn’t really helped with the whole… situation. 

Its a very touching reunion tbh, and Arthur of course offers to let Tom stay above the shop too. He really thinks Mari should head back with her family, but, well. Mari’s really never listened to him anyways. And, as nice as it would be for a Dupain-Cheng family reunion, Tom doesn’t know what’s going on and Mari doesn’t really want to give her father a Miraculous. So she wouldn’t. She’d tell him to go back to Paris and wait for her to come back. (She wouldn’t.) 

Yeah you were probably hoping for the big sappy reunion with everything fixed but… no. Mari has started making her own life, and as much as she loves her parents, they don’t really have a place in it here in Gotham. And after everything that happens with the reveil of the Miraculous to the Rogue Gallery and the Justice League after her, and her eventually rebuilding the order… she doesn’t particularly want them there. Oh, she’ll visit on occasion, and call, but the straw broke this camel’s back a while ago. 

hhh i really need to write the next installment of this au so everyone can get an explanation but I am. A sleepy bean. 

[Image Description: Tumblr Ask from schrodingers25. "In your Gotham Seamstress AU, when the JL confronts Mari (idk if they'll be stupid enough to bring Adrien with them or not) would she start to have a panic attack or something? I can only imagine all the kwamis tearing into them and maybe the Sirens if they happen to be in the neighborhood. (I hope that this makes sense or not, finding the right wording was a bird hard, I love your AU btw though.)]

(Don’t worry your wording is perfectly fine! And I’m really so glad that you like them!) 

Ngl, the Justice League WILL confront Mari, but it won’t be the big bad battle you guys are probably imagining lol

And honesty I doubt they’d bring Adrian along, since he’s got no powers now, and, -cough- why would they want someone with no experience joining them in hunting down a dangerous criminal -COUGH- 

Tho yes, Mari would absolutely have a panic attack if the justice league all went after her at once. She’ll also have one when she realizes they’ve been investigating her. She’s just. Incredibly stressed over it all. Adrian and the Rogue’s and the Miraculous and EVERYTHING, she just wants to break down and have a good cry. But she can’t. Bc with everybody after her, there’s no space for relaxing and trying to get these things done, she just has to DO them. 

(Cue Multimouse bc she doesn’t have the manpower to give out the Miraculous, only use them herself and hope for the best.) 

Now, I can’t see the Kwami reveling themselves unless it’s to 1) save mari from a physical attack from of if the Justice League members or 2) to speak to Diana about how Marinette IS the Guardian and they all need to back to hell off. Which, both would make Mari even MORE panic-y but lets explore option one. 

The Justice League tracks her down, demands the Miraculous and Mari basically goes. Fuck you. Hell no. Becomes Multimouse, and using all the Miraculous AGAIN, to start fighting against them. Constantly shifting between powers to take on the fucking. Most if not ALL of the Justice League. Several of the Kwami are out on their own tho, and they keep their powers as themselves so like. Kwami vs the Justice League. The Justice League looses. Badly. Several of the Kwami would try to convince Diana that Mari is the Guardian, they need to stop this-! but we all know they wouldn’t listen. 

Mari gets away and just. Breaks down. She can’t trust the hero’s, she can’t trust the villains, she can only trust herself… She’s still alone. And she absolutely thinks about running away again, but they’ll all just chase her so. She has to prepare to take a stand. 

_apologies for cursing but this au is just. wild man its a wild ride_


	6. After The Party - Bruce

Hi yes, this is Bruce Wayne going into Overprotective Dad Mode bc that? is? a baby? who just got harassed at his party? And hangs out with the PENGUIN? This is HIS child now. There’s suddenly a whole TON of investigating on wtf is going on with this girl. Internet stalking + Batman stalking this poor girl. And really all he manages to pull up is Marianne Wang + Marinette Dupain-Cheng and she just ran away from Paris for no apparent reason. Does some more digging and finds out she disappeared right when Hawkmoth stopped doing his thing. And got to Gotham with no papers or plane tickets or passport or ANYTHING so how the FUCK did she get here? (Also fucking mAGIC HE HATES MAGIC GET THIS SHIT OUT OF HIS CITY FFS) 

And now she works with Arthur Berstein who apparently tailors for the Rogue Gallery. As does Marinette. And his last assistant got a face full of Laughing Gas from the Joker. Watches the shop for a week or two and its just. Packed with Rogue Gallery members coming to the place and getting new clothes. What. The fuck. HOW DID HE NOT NOTICE THIS?

Comes to the conclusion that Marinette is/was Hawkmoth and he wants her OUT. Mentions this to the Justice League and Diana is just. Shook. Bc the Miraculous aren’t supposed to be used in this way and if she did this, why? Why go to Gotham? Hawkmoth was after the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous to make a wish, clearly, so did she manage it? Bc the hero’s disappeared at the same time? And if she DID make a wish, what was it for? What will the consequences be? 

And Damian, as Robin, is listening to this and suddenly demands to know what the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous’ look like. And Diana tells him. 

“… The girl. She stole a ring off Adrian Agreste’s finger. And she was wearing ridiculously plain, non-matching earrings for such an event.” 

And Diana FLIPS and it becomes a mad dash to find Marinette before she can end the world. 

And Bruce is fucking suspicious bc this. Doesn’t seem quite right. He knows he came up with the theory that she was Hawkmoth but why would she stop terrorizing Paris if she wanted the ring? Why put herself in such a dangerous situation with the Rogue Gallery? Why was she so scared of Adrian Agreste? 

He tracks down Gabriel Agreste, who’s still in Gotham, and stalks him a bit too. Gets Damian to translate a TON of French that mostly consists of Gabriel and Adrian fighting about how he shouldn’t have even still HAD his Miraculous, if Marinette took it, then good riddance! And that stunt at the gala? What if she took back the healing she’d done for his mother? IS that what he wants? And just. Constantly going on about how Adrian and Marinette were meant to be together, like Gabriel and Emilie, how it isn’t fair! Everything is so perfect now, why can’t Marinette just SEE that and accept that she loves him?! This is all Gabriel’s fault! 

And Bruce is like. Hey. Hey Gabe. GABE ANSWER MY QUESTIONS NOW. 

And yeah. Gabriel gets held up against a wall with one hand and spills his guts. All of it. Emilie finding the Miraculous and using both, unaware of the consequences. The breaking of the Peacock Miraculous, her declining health, and then finally her coma. Him becoming Hawkmoth to draw out the Guardian and the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous so he could save her. All the akuma’s and terror he caused in Paris. Marinette, as Ladybug, saving Emilie and becoming Guardian and his son… becoming obsessive. How, when Marinette disappeared, he was terrified for his family and what that would mean and now that Adrian has found her again, well. Agreste men have never been one to let go of those they love. Even if it isn’t reciprocated. And he’s afraid for the girl. She has all the Miraculous now, if she gets desperate enough… It won’t be pretty. 

And Bruce and Damian struggling to find Marinette and warn her and update the Justice League before they do something collectively stupid. 

Meanwhile, Marinette is struggling. (And the Justice League apparently shares one brain cell. Bruce has it most of the time.) 


	7. After The Party - Marinette

-cracks knuckles- TIME TO BUCKLE DOWN BC IM GOING TO BE WRITING FOR HOPEFULLY THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON 

Okay SO we have Marinette locked in her room, freaking out, Plagg and Tikki having A Moment, and the rest of the Kwami are trying to deal with the fallout. Because there WILL be fallout. Ozzy and the Twins went back to Cobblepot Mansion, Arthur Berstein is struggling to figure out just what happened bc nobody’s telling him ANYTHING, and the Agreste’s are screaming at each other in a hotel somewhere. 

Marinette knows that Bruce Wayne is going to be investigating this, investigating HER, after that little stunt. And fuck, she’s just. Ozzy has a bug up his ass about Adrian getting handsy with her, so no doubt he’ll be trying to track her down. And they’ll both realize that Marianne Wang is really Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and who KNOWS what’s been going on in Paris since she ran away. Nothing good, certainly. So she starts packing everything up. She’d gotten a suitcase proper once Arthur settled her down and thank goodness she did. Starts packing up clothes, sketchbooks, leaves the WIP’s with notes so that Arthur doesn’t get in trouble… And then Plagg tells her to calm the hell down. She NEEDS to make a plan before she runs off. And Tikki chimes in and says, well, Marinette SHOULD make a better plan. She doesn’t have papers, but she could try and get them from the Siren’s, or Ozzy, before she left. And, well, they should figure out where she’ll go from here. She can’t go to Metropolis or any of the other Justice League affiliated cities… And oh. Fuck. Bruce Wayne FUNDS the JL, once he knows about her, no doubt he’ll tell the Justice League too. 

She goes out to the kitchen and makes herself something to eat, still in her Gala dress, hair a mess, obviously been crying. And Arthur watches her a minute before patting the couch next to him. Tells her that she can tell him whatever she can. He’ll listen. And Mari just kinda. Leans on him and cries some more bc she had a run in with her ex… something. Adrian. And she was having such a good time but now that he knows where she is, and she took back her… family heirloom from him. He’ll be after her. And he’ll tell Bruce Wayne and then the Justice League all sorts of lies about her and she’ll never be able to stop running now! And, and, she just got settled and she doesn’t know what she’ll do. 

(Now, I haven’t mentioned this AT ALL really, btu Arthur Berstein really took on another sort of Uncle roll for Marinette, and she loves hanging out with him. He’s a good mentor. Honestly very spineless, but he’s a good guy. And he’s helped her. They’re buddies.) 

And Arthur, tbh, tells her that she needs to drink her tea, sleep on it, and then make her plan. WITHOUT telling the Rogue Gallery, no matter how sympathetic they are. They’d never let her out of Gotham, given half the chance. Mari drinks her tea, get some snuggles, goes back to her room, and gets a fitfull night of sleep.

Wakes up. Decides she WILL be leaving. But not now. She has commissions to finish, and paperwork to forge and a life to pack up and move somewhere. Arthur lends her as much money as he can, and she goes hunting down someone who, with enough cash, is willing to give her fake papers with ANOTHER fake name and info, without telling any of the Rogue Gallery what she’s doing. Packs up her stuff and buys foods she can eat on the road, small toiletries, etc, etc. Buys another backpack to fit it all. Some camping supplies. She figured she’d lay low for a couple months at least. Maybe move to a small town father into the states! Something….

And, of course, speaking of the Rogue Gallery. Ozzy and the Twins show up within a couple days and they’re all puffed up and angry on Mari’s behalf. Damn Agreste, chasing her out of Paris, man handling her at a party. Damn brat. And Marinette reassures them that Adrian might try to find her but he’d never look for her HERE. Maybe in a nicer part of the city, or with Ozzy. But she’ll stay right where she is, and she’ll be alright. Besides, Mr. Agreste understands why she left. He won’t let Adrian chase her down like that. Soothes ruffled feathers and sends them on their way. 

Now, the Siren’s, of course, get more details. But Mari’s learned to lie a lot better than she did in Paris, so there’s plenty of half truths and misdirection. But the Gotham City Siren’s are rearing up to skin a cat one way or another and Selena especially is ready to throw down if he even shows his face to any of them. But they DO promise not to try and track him down. Mari just wants to be left in peace, after all, and riling Adrian up isn’t going to help her. 

And Marinette, of course, knows when she’s being tailed. At first, she just thought it was the Rogue Gallery trying to make sure she was alright. They DID care, just a little. In their own… weird ways. But then the Kwami’s start getting anxious and Tikki FLIPS bc that’s Diana! HER Diana! Which, of course, means that that’s the JUSTICE LEAGUE’S Diana. And Marinette’s plans all start falling through. She has to pretend she doesn’t notice them (and its hard bc they’re so obvious? Hell they get into FIGHTS on the ROOFS with the villains of Gotham. For real?) and speed up her plans. She has less than a week now and she’s just waiting for those papers. But of course, the JL has no patience and the RG can’t reign themselves in. 

There may or may not be a huge fight in the street on front of Arthur Berstein’s Tailor Shop. Marinette Dupain-Cheng may or may not have to use a Miraculous or Two to save herself. 

TOON IN NEXT TIME TO FIND OUT JUST WHAT HAPPENS (literally a couple hours, don’t kill me plz) 


	8. Clash of Hero's (and Villain's)

SO, obviously, the Justice League and the Rogue Gallery has already clashed a few times while Tailing Marinette. Out of Batman’s watch, of course. He’s tired of having to babysit them. BUT OF COURSE, when he realizes what’s going on and gets his answers from Gabriel Agreste, the Justice League has already decided this has gone on long enough. Adrian Agreste already gave them their answers. They have what they need. 

(Little do they know Adrian is following them pretty closely. He’s GOING to get his ring, AND his Lady back.) 

And the Rogues, at least, those who like Marinette enough to take on Justice League members, or those just crazy enough to want to, have decided, this shit ends here and now. 

So of course, in typical hero fashion, they get into a fight right in front of the Tailoring Shop and Arthur and Marinette are desperately trying to get the hell out of there without getting hurt. Marinette, using the Horse Miraculous, gets Arthur to another part of town (WITH his important documents, she learned her lesson) and then goes back for her own things. Only to find several villains and hero’s fighting in and out of the shop. and Adrian. In her room. She has to use the Horse Miraculous AGAIN and they end up grappling in the street for the Miraculous Box. Its honestly gets pretty scrappy. The hero’s notice of course, and try to help. But they can only do so much against A Guardian using different Miraculous every time they go after her. She has to use Shelter SEVERAL times, and each time gets blasted into a building or shatters the sidewalk, and the Justice League is trying to keep the aggravated blonde civilian out of harms way. Which doesn’t GO WELL bc Adrian is spouting his ‘romantic’ nonsense in loud French, and keeps trying to grab for a Miraculous. 

There’s too many close calls. And one of the hero’s, probably Green Lantern or Arrow, gets a lucky shot in between transformations. The Rogue’s can only do so much when they’re outnumbered so much, and they don’t know what the hELL their Mari is doing but. Well. They’re villains. Several of them try to make a grab for those lovely jewels themselves. 

Marinette is flagging and exhausted and hurt and she’s not sure WHO she can trust right now, if she CAN trust anybody, and the Kwami are getting exhausted and she just, just… she can’t do this by herself! 

Lucky, she doesn’t have to. 

Bc Batman and the Robins and the Batgirls/women too (after an incredibly frantic and brief meeting) are there to help. Batman, of course, takes front trying to reason with the Justice League, Damian is taking out stray Rogue Gallery members, the Batgirls are reigning in stray Justice League members, while Jason is getting Marinette the hell out of here. Dick and Tim are trying to pull up whatever evidence Barb/Oracle can get to show wtf was going on, including Gabriel’s confession, and its just. A disaster. 

The Justice League DOES eventually chill the FUCK OUT and listen and they’re all. Confused and vaguely horrified and they all turn to Adrian who is just. Basically foaming at the mouth. He was SO CLOSE. WHY did Batman have to come in and do that? 

And Bruce has about HAD it with this kid and his misinformation and just. Drags him. DRAGS. HIM. Adrian gets carted off with the Rogue’s to Arkham for interfering with official hero business as well as disturbing the peace and willfully misleading a JL investigation and being a danger to the citizens of Gotham. (Somewhere Gabriel Agreste is watching the news with his phone in his hand, caller ID saying Emilie and he’s just. He doesn’t know what to do, now, either.) 

The Justice League proportionately horrified with themselves, Diana especially, bc she SHOULD have known better, she has more to do with the Miraculous than anybody. But she didn’t. She jumped the gun and made assumptions and they have no idea where the Guardian is right now, or what will happen to her and they… they hurt an innocent little girl. That’s on them. 

(They take their lecture from Batman with a decent amount of grace. Not THAT MUCH, from EVERYBODY, but. Yknow. Enough. They want to fix this. They really CAN’t but they sure can try.) 

Also you thought Mari was just going to be okay with Jason grabbing her and riding away on a motorcycle? HA. NO. 

She overextends herself AGAIN and books it the hell out of there. She’s in another area of the city entirely and just. She bunks down in an abandoned building and cries it out. She say Gotham’s local hero’s trying to reign in the League and the Gallery but she didn’t know what was REALLY going on and she’s… tired. Tired and hurt and she overdid it with the Miraculous powers and the has to just. Let the Kwami take care of themselves for a minute bc SHE can’t go and get them food to recharge or make sure their safe now too. She only just barely made it out with the Miraculous box and she’s just. 

She’s so tired. She wants this to be OVER with. Basically straight up passes out with a rib injury and who knows what else in an abandoned building on the docks, with no money, no plans, and no paperwork, with the JL and RG baying for her blood right about now. 

Because yeah. You think this didn’t get put on the news? Ahaha, no it was broadcasted live. Poor Marinette. 


	9. Finding Marinette

Okay, now. we’ve got Marinette passed out on the docks in Gotham, the Justice League trying to find her, the Batfam trying to track her down using security camera’s, and the Kwami panicking. 

Now, Marinette didn’t use ALL of the Miraculous and their powers, so several of the Kwami can and DO go out and get enough food for everybody and medical supplies for Marinette and they just. Wait. Bc none of them can really heal humans, and this can’t be fixed by a Miraculous Cure. Their Girl (-cough- they totally meant Guardian, yeah, yeaaahhh -cough-) is hurt and the hero’s can’t be trusted and the villains turned on Marinette. And maybe, MAYBE, they could trust the Batfam, but they can’t be sure. Some of the kwami, lets say, Trixx, Stompp, and Longg, all go out to investigate just what’s going on while Marinette is sleeping. And they DO like what they see. But they aren’t going to drag the Justice League anywhere NEAR their Mari rn so. Batfam it is. 

Longg is the one who manages to nab Damian and literally just. attaches himself to the bird themed hero. And the Batfam can’t hear Longg over the coms but they CAN hear Damian demanding to know what the FUCK Longg is and what the hell he thinks he’s doing latching onto him like this! Off! OFF!!

And Longg bites him bc he does not have time for these shenanigans! (… tikki can never know.) Demands that Damian come to Marinette and help her! Its partially his fault she’s hurt! (Not that any of them KNOW that Damian is Robin and therefore the person who mentioned Mari taking the ring but. yknow.)

Damian waits for Bruce, Dick, and Tim to show up, as backup, and Longg leads them to this random dock building where Marinette is STILL sleeping off using so many Miraculous AND getting hurt. They see her crawling with Kwami, who all look at them with bright eyes in the dark. They will never admit they were PRETTY fucking terrified. Talk about putting the fear of the Gods into someone. 

Tim looks her over for injuries of which there are… more than they estimated. No Ladybug means no Miraculous Cure means all those hits they managed to get through didn’t get healed. They weren’t nearly as bad as they could have been but she looks… bad. She stirs a little when Bruce picks her up, and Jason brings around the Batmobile to their location. Dick carries the Miraculous Box and Plagg sits on his shoulder glaring at him, less he try something. He’ll cataclysm the fuck out of this kid, TRY HIM. The rest of the Kwami are still laying on Mari. 

Long story short, the Batgirls end up patching up Mari and getting her cleaned up in the Bat Cave, and they take turns watching over here. The Kwami, Tikki especially, insist on staying with Mari and at least watching over her, even if she can’t be wearing all the Miraculous while she heals. 

She sleeps for like. A day and a half, almost two. 

Batman is still ripping the Justice League a New One, somewhere that ISN’T the Bat Cave. There are long and extensive explanations about how they should have WAITED for him to come back with his findings, how listening to a MINOR, especially a minor who had questionable ties to the girl they were following, was unacceptable. They have protocol for a REASON. They have procedure for a REASON. They’re all going through sensitivity training. Until then get the FUCK out of his city. Fuck, get the hell out of his STATE. OUT. NO I DON’T CARE IF METROPOLIS IS WITHIN STATE BOARDERS, KENT, YOU ARE ON THIN FUCKING ICE. OUT. BITCH BYE. 

Also, Adrian gets out of Arkham! Only to get dragged back to Paris to be locked up THERE, bc yeah.This is a political fucking NIGHTMARE. Not even Chloe could save Adrian from this bs. They all watched him tackle Marinette Dupain-Cheng (local beloved teen, missing for over a year, and no WONDER) to the ground and try to wrestle a Miraculous from her. Also the info on Gabriel being Hawkmoth. There’s a lot of legalities that he’s going to have to deal with. (Also I never really mentioned Emilie? But she, like. Has been confined to bed while she heals and neither of the boys told her what happened, but now its all over the news and. Well. Natalie and the Gorilla may or may not come clean to her. Emilie is NOT pleased. FFS boys.) 

But yeah. Marinette wakes up in a panic, covered in Kwami, to a snoring Nightwing sitting in a chair beside her. In a cave. She may or may not flip out, tackle Nightwing, aggravate her wounds, and kinda end up on the ground in a ball. Dick is, uh, not sure how to deal with this. Though he’s being threatened by a tiny god of chaos to reassure her so um. Kay. Normal day in Gotham I suppose. Lets everyone else know to suit up and come meet their guest. 

Duusu absolutely tackles Alfred, Nooro too. They can get an explanation LATER tho, bc this shit is ridiculous enough already. Marinette gets gently put back into bed, her wounds checked over, and some water. And Bruce starts explaining what happened, and apologies. 

Because he wasn’t fast enough, the Justice League came after her, revealed the Secrets of the Miraculous to not only the Rogue Gallery but to Gotham. The footage was, after about 24 hours, unusable and corrupted across just about everything, but people can still report on it. People have absolutely heard what happened. She was injured, her identity exposed, bc he could not get his answers fast as he needed. 

And Marinette just starts crying. Because, really, it wasn’t his fault! He tried to help her as best he can and that’s something! Its more help than she’s had in years, if she’s honest. And it means a lot that he was willing to own up to it, even if she didn’t blame him. 

But, she also can’t really forgive the Agreste’s or the Justice League. She doesn’t… really have it in her to deal with it. Them. ANY of this, honestly. And none of the Batfam blames her one bit for it. 

The Kwami are going to be bitter about it forever though. FOR. EVER. The Batfam is on thin ice and the only reason they aren’t getting beat to all hell by four inch gods is that they owned up and protected Mari. And Alfred. Alfred was always a good bird. Good to know he raised DECENT birds, despite half of them being bats. its fine. acceptable. 

Mari actually just. falls asleep again and Alfred pulls the batfam away for an explanation on the Miraculous and who Marinette IS and how important she is. 

Its decided that, if Mari wants, she’s getting adopted. 


	10. Possible Endings(?)

Okay there are just. TOO MANY POSSIBILITIES FOR ENDINGS and Im indecisive af so you guys can PICK AND CHOSE what you want.

**1) Marinette Leaves**

It is EXACTLY like it sounds like. Marinette just. Fucking LEAVES. She’s tired. She’s done. Once she’s healed from the WHOLE ordeal, she stays with the Waynes to learn the language of whereever she’s going next so she’s at least a LITTLE prepared. Gets multiple fake identities and learns whatever language and fucks the hell off to live her guardianhood in a different country that is not America, England, France, Italy, China, or any countries too close to them. Which leaves her with fewer choices than she would like but at least there will be fewer people who knows where she is. LET. HER. REST.

In this case, the Miraculous would probably be retired semi-permanently, if not indefinitely. Mari would still train the next guardian (but actually TELL THEM THIS instead of springing it on them) just in case, and live the rest of her life out in relative peace. 

**2) Marinette Joins the Justice League**

After many, MANY, apologies, she joins the Justice League. Stays with Bruce. Is considered like. An addition to the team? with a team of her own? Stays in Gotham and picks trustworthy people there to give a Miraculous and join the Guardians. (This absolutely includes the Gordans and the Quantic Kids. INCLUDING Fanon!Felix and Bridgette FIGHT ME ON THIS)

I don't LOVE this idea bc while Marinette is very forgiving, she really shouldn't have to forgive the Justice League for their nonsense. On the other hand, though, its fun to think of Mari as a Hero/Almost Anti-Hero in Gotham, still hanging out with the Siren's and helping the JL with magical focused situations. Also opens up the possibilities for ALL the ships. All of them. Have at it. 

**3) Marinette Goes Back to Paris**

Since any Parisian watching the news would realize who she was, and Adrian is getting locked up, along with Gabriel, and Emilie is now staying with her sister, she goes back to Paris. It IS her home after all. But fuck her old friends. fuck em. SO much fuck them. She's probably move to the outskirts of the city and maybe start her own fashion boutique, funded by Gabriel, of course, who is really REALLY sorry about his son. And himself. And really his entire family and staff, please don't smite us. Occasionally has to deal with her ex classmates, but probably gets homeschooled and THEN gets a degree in fashion and business later on. 

Please, just. Let Marinette retire and have friends and fellow hero's who appreciate her. 

**4) Marinette Stays In Gotham**

Basically, there’s shenanigans involving paperwork and Marinette gets ANOTHER new identity and is now yet another of the long ‘children adopted by Bruce Wayne’ list. Which allows her to go to school and do what she likes, while also being able to be a hero! However, she probably puts it on the back burner, since the Wayne's and CO seem to have it in check. She could totally be a backup hero tho. 

This in itself could be a HUGE au in and of itself! So many shenanigans to have!!

And, okay, as far as endings go, I know this is kinda disappointing? And absolutely not concrete?? but like I said, I'm indecicive as HELL and each of these possibilities really sPEAK to me, so I figured you guys could pick and chose with you like best!!


	11. More Asks!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please note these asks were answered BEFORE posting chapter 10!

[Tumblr Ask from you-will-never-know-how-i-think. "Oh boy, a live news broadcast demonstrating the existence of magical weaponry? sounds like a hand written invitation for the Al Ghul's to come hunt down our poor girl in there ever was one"]

[Tumblr Ask from novicevoice. "I hope she was able to keep her identity a secret and is ok. Fingers crossed she can leave successfully and they leave her be.]

[insert gif of evil smiling grinch]

All will be revealed! Once I get the motivation to post the last couple parts of the au. 

Though I didn’t plan on having the Al Ghul’s and/or the League of Assassins (wtf is with all these LEAGUE’S everywhere) coming after Marinette, I imagine it would be a lot like the situation in the Smol Damian AU, where Marinette kicks ass, takes names, and gains Ra’s respect. Which, honestly I think she would, if only bc she took on both Gotham’s Rogue Gallery, AND the Justice League and held her own, while also managing to gain the upper hand. With Batman’s help, but he likes Bruce well enough. And OH look, hello grandson. Look at this nice young lady I approve of. 

And I DO promise that Marinette will get to rest, finally. Tho FUCK the JL she’s done with their nonsense forever and always now tbh. 


End file.
